--- title: Why It’s Called an ‘Equinox’ and Other Spring Words You Should Know description: Spring is a time for growing, a time for renewal, and a time for using words that you don’t get to use the rest of the year canonical: https://time.com/32042/equinox-first-day-of-spring-words/ author: Katy Steinmetz article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-20T17:02:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:45:29.347Z og:title: Why It’s Called an ‘Equinox’ and Other Delightful Spring Words You Should Know og:description: Spring is a time for growing, a time for renewal, and a time for using words that you don’t get to use the rest of the year og:url: https://time.com/32042/equinox-first-day-of-spring-words/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86aa68f0e5a39e0a/6986865bcd804d9024cc9d1c/462013007.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3567 og:image:height: 2006 og:image:alt: Primrose og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why It’s Called an ‘Equinox’ and Other Delightful Spring Words You Should Know twitter:description: Spring is a time for growing, a time for renewal, and a time for using words that you don’t get to use the rest of the year twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86aa68f0e5a39e0a/6986865bcd804d9024cc9d1c/462013007.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why It’s Called an ‘Equinox’ and Other Delightful Spring Words You Should Know > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture recommendation newsletter, edited by culture editor Eliza Berman. Twice a week it surfaces the books, shows, films and ideas TIME's editors think are worth your attention, and explains why. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Does TIME have a culture newsletter? Yes. Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Vernal Equinox: Harbinger of Springtime [Watch (HLS stream): Vernal Equinox: Harbinger of Springtime](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wFhshZTF.m3u8) (2:24)  _Published 2014-03-19. The vernal equinox is the celestial event that ushers in the change of seasons into spring, an event celebrated worldwide and not just for the warmer temperatures it ushers in._ by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Mar 20, 2014 5:02 PM UTC  Delicate white primrose flowers bathed in light Delicate white primrose flowers bathed in light Harold Lloyd / Getty Images / Flickr by [Katy Steinmetz](https://time.com/author/katy-steinmetz/) ## Katy Steinmetz Mar 20, 2014 5:02 PM UTC Today is the first day of spring, also know as the **_equinox_**. While that might sound like [a name](http://www.equinox.com/) of a place where hunks sculpt their biceps, the word comes from the Latin term _aequinoctium_, meaning equality between day and night (_aequi_ \= equal and ­_noct_ \= night). That is what today is after all: one of the two periods of the year when the sun crosses the equator and the days and nights are in equal length all over the earth, marking our spin from winter to spring. But _equinox_ is just the beginning. Here is TIME’s guide to other great words you just might get to use in the coming months, whether you’re chatting to an American farmer, a South Asian in a whirlwind or a British person having marital problems (with most adapted definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary): **_blackberry winter (n.)_**_:_ Used chiefly in the southern regions of America, this refers to a period of cold weather in the late spring, more boringly called a “cold snap.” The term is said to come from chilly weather appearing after the blackberry plants have begun to bloom, which Americans will feast on in cobblers throughout summer. Other terms for this are **_after-winter_**_,_ **_blackthorn winter_**_,_ **_dogwood winter_**or**_redbud winter_** **.** **_Chelidonian (adj):_**This delicious adjective refers to spring winds, and is derived from the Greek word for swallow (as in the bird, not the thing you do after masticating). Because the Chelidonian winds are said to arise at the first coming of yonder swallows. **_cuckoo (n.):_** You might know the cuckoo for the clocks these birds decorate, but these migratory birds are also known as the “harbingers of spring,” arriving in places like the British Isles in April. Fun fact: the cuckoo is also known for not hatching its own offspring but depositing its eggs in the nest of other, unsuspecting small birds— which is where we get the term **_cuckold_** **,** referring to the unsuspecting husband of an unfaithful wife, who could be raising another man’s child. **_eating its first grass (v.):_**If something is eating its first grass, then it is in its first year. In previous centuries, people measured time by the yearly growths of grass, which happen in the spring and early summer. So they might also talk about that wild party that happened “last grass” or someone being seven years old “next grass” or a cow that is “eating its first grass.” Today, this term might be revived in Washington and Colorado with a rather different meaning. **_fast-day (n.)_**: For centuries, the people of New Hampshire all got together and didn’t eat — or observed a fast — on a day appointed by the governor each spring. Fast Day was proclaimed in New Hampshire in 1681, as a desperate attempt to avert the death of the governor, which had been foretold by Haley’s Comet. ([You can’t make this stuff up](http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19850420&id=1XwgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9WcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1826,3776908).) Though the original purpose faded, New Hampshirites kept enjoying a three-day holiday until 1991, when the legislature abolished Fast Day. **_gowk’s-storm (n.)_**: This is another fun term derived from the cuckoo, known as a gowk in some Scottish dialects. The gowk’s-storm is a spring gale, particularly one that occurs at the time the cuckoo flies onto the scene. **_Hebe (n.):_** Hebe (pronounced HEE-bee), taking her name from the Greek word for youthful prime and puberty, is the daughter of Zeus and Hera, as well as the goddess of youth and spring. So her name has also been used to refer to women in their early youth as well as waitresses and barmaids. Try that out at your local watering hole (or at least start drink orders with “Barkeep!”). **_Maia (n.)_** **:** Maia was also a pretty lady, one of the many that Zeus had a thing for and who bore his son Hermes. In Roman mythology, she came to personify the spring and fertility, and is said to have given her name to the month of May. **_month-brother (n.):_** You probably know that April showers bring May flowers, but you might not know that both March and April are known as “month-brothers,” being the rowdier, stormier siblings to lovely May, known as a “month-sister.” These names come from the poetic stylings of Englishman Gerard Manley Hopkins. **_mud time (n.)_**: In the Northeast, the straightforwardly named mud time is the period of early spring before the ground is completely thawed and there is much mud. “As soon as spring opens, the people trot out their old shoes,” wrote the New Hampshire Portsmouth _Herald_ in 1902, “and have them patched up to wear through mud time.” **_pishachi (n.):_** If you happen to be in South Asia this spring and experience a whirlwind, you should tell your friends you are in a pishachi, a word that comes from the Sanskrit term for female demon. If you happen to be in Africa and stuck in a “hot, dry, suffocating sand-wind” which sweeps across the deserts at intervals during the spring, you should know that you are in a **_simoom_**. But you probably shouldn’t say it, because you will get sand in your mouth. **_primaveral (adj.):_** This term, coming from the Latin _primum ver_, or earliest spring, can be used to describe anything happening in early spring. In Italian, spring is known as _primavera_, from which the tasty pasta dish takes its name. Spring can also be referred to as **_prime temps_** (from Latin _primus_, meaning of the highest quality, and _temps_, referring to time), as well as **_prime time_** and **_prime tide_**. **_shunto (n.):_**In Japan, springtime is a time for wage-bargaining. Also known as the “labor offensive,” there are plenty of [prognostications](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/tag/shunto/) about what will happen in this year’s round of talks between major firms and labor unions. **_vernal (adj.):_** _Vernal_ is another word that can be used to describe anything happening or appearing in the springtime, coming from Latin _vernus_, which means “pertaining to spring.” So if you vernalize something, you make it spring-like. If something has spring-like qualities, you might note its vernality. And if a friend of yours has a lovely garden growing in the spring, you should probably compliment them on their impressive vernation. ## Transcript Spring is upon us. We know this because the ice is thawed, flowers are blooming, and allergies are a thing again. We can thank Verne for all of that. You know Verne? No! No Verne, Vernal Equinox. Oh! See I got you on that one. Yeah, Doug, got us too. But moving on, the vernal equinox is coming up, as it does every year, but what is it? And why is it important to understanding spring? For starters, the vernal equinox, one of two equinoxes in the calendar year, marks the beginning of spring. The autumnal equinox is another season marker that signals the beginning of fall. According to Earthsky, the vernal equinox, which is also called the March or spring equinox, will always take place on March 19th, 20th, or 21st. Though in fact, it won't fall on the 19th until 2044, and we won't see it happen on the 21st until 2102. Equinox comes from Latin words, meaning equal night. That's because on those days the length of days and nights are the same all over the world. During the equinoxes, the sun gives an equal amount of warm love to northern and southern hemispheres, because the Earth's axis is tilted neither toward, nor away from the sun. But the Vernal Equinox isn't just a celestial event. The event is big for cultures all across the world. According to National Geographic the equinoxes have been associated with ancient monuments like el castillo in the ancient Mayan city Chichiniza. The vernal equinox also coincides with significant dates and celebrations like no rules, the celebration of the Persian new year. And Easter. Easter Sunday would be the first Sunday to follow the full moon after the spring equinox. It could occur anywhere between March 22nd and April 25th. Of course, Easter also gives us the season of egg obsession. Some believe Easter derives from Eostre, a goddess of fertility. The egg symbolizes birth and life. One how cats video combines the equinox, eggs, and fertility, to offering interesting suggestion on how to celebrate the start of spring. [ MUSIC ] Step 1, conceive a child. According to an ancient German legend, a goddess of fertility conceived a child with the sun god on the first day of spring. Now, we're not going to tell you how to celebrate. Just remember this year, the vernal equinox falls on Thursday, March 20th. Thanks for watching. I'm Jamal Andrews. 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